AERONAUTICS (Part 2)
We have now given a brief account of all the noteworthy voyages that took place within the first two or three years after the discovery of the balloon by Montgolfier. Ascents were multiplied from this time onwards, and it is impossible to give even a list of the many hundreds that have taken place since: this omission is, however, of slight importance, as henceforth the balloon became little better than a toy, let up to amuse people at fetes or other public occasions. When the first ascents were made in France, the glow of national vanity was lighted up, and the most brilliant expectations were felt with regard to aerostation, and the glory to the nation that would accrue therefrom. These anticipations have not been realized, and the balloon at this moment has received no great improvement since the time of Charles, except the substitution of ordinary coal-gas for hydrogen, which has rendered the inflation of a balloon at any gas-works a comparatively simple matter, bearing in mind the elaborate contrivances required for the generation of hydrogen in sufficient quantities. But in one respect the balloon has been of real service, viz., to science, in rendering the attainment of observations in the higher strata of the atmosphere not only possible but practicable. In regard to such matters the balloon is unique, as the atmosphere is the great laboratory of nature, in which are produced all the phenomena of weather, the results of which we perceive on the earth; and no observations made on mountain-sides can take the place of those made in the balloon, as what is required is the knowledge of the state of the upper atmosphere itself, free from the disturbing effects of the contiguity of the land. Although, therefore, in what follows, we shall notice any particularly remarkable ascents, we shall chiefly confine ourselves to the few that have been undertaken for the sake of advancing science, and which alone are of permanent value. It will be necessary to make one exception to this rule, however, in the case of the parachute, the experiments with which require some notice, although they have been put to no useful purpose. The balloon has also been used in warfare as a means of observing the movements of the enemy; and the applications of it to this purpose deserve notice, although we think not so much use has been made of the balloon in this direction as might have been.
The substitution of coal-gas for hydrogen is due to Mr Charles Green, the veteran aeronaut, who made several hundred ascents, the first of which took place on July 19, 1821, the coronation day of Goerge IV. In this ascent ordinary coal-gas was first used; and every balloon, with very few exceptions, that has ascended since this date has been so inflated. Pall Mall was first lighted by gas in 1807, and at the end of 1814 the general lighting of London by gas commenced; so that coal-gas could not have been a available for filling balloons long before it was actually used.
Leaving out of consideration the ascents undertaken for scientific objects (very many of which were remarkable for the height attained or the distance traversed, and which will be specially noticed further on), we proceed to mention the most noteworthy ascents that have taken place and that have not ended fatally (these latter will be referred to separately). Mr Crosbie, a gentleman who was the first to ascend from Ireland (January 19, 1785), on the 19th July 1785 attempted to cross St Goerge's Channel to England, but fell into the sea; he was saved by some vessels that same to his rescue. Lunardi also fell into the sea, about a mile and a half from the shore, after an ascent from Edinburgh in December 1785; he was rescued by a fishing-boat. Richard Maguire was the second person who ascended from Ireland. Mr. Crosbie had inflated his balloon on May 12, 1785, but it was unable to take him up, when Mr. Maguire, a student at the university, who was present, offered to ascend. His offer was accepted, and he made the ascent. For this he was knighted by the Lord-Lieutenant (Monck Mason, p. 266). On July 22, 1785, Major Money ascended from Norwich. The balloon was blown out to sea, and he was obliged to descend into the water. After remaining there seven hours he was rescued by a revenue cutter which had been dispatched to his assistance. Mr. James Sadler attempted to cross St George's Channel on the 1st of October 1812, and had nearly succeeded, when, in consequence of a change in the wind, he was forced to descend into the sea off Liverpool. After remaining in the water some time, he was rescued by a fishing-boat. But on July 22, 1817, Mr. Windham Sadlers, his second son, succeeded in crossing the Channel from Dublin to Holyhead. On May 24, 1837, Mr. Sneath ascended from near Mansfield in a fire-balloon, and descended safety. At half-past one o'clock on November 7, 1836, Mr. Robert Hollond, Mr. Monck Mason, and Mr. Charles green ascenede from Vauxhall Gardens, and descended at about two leagues from Weilburg, in the duchy of Nassau, at half-past seven the next morning, having thus traversed a distance of about 500 miles I 18 hours; Liege was passed in the course of the night, and Coblentz in the early morning. A full account of this trip is given by Mr. Monck Mason in his Aeronautica (1838). The balloon in which the journey was performed (a very large one, containing about 85,000 cubic feet of gas) was subsequently called the Nassan Balloon, and under that name became famous, and ascended frequently.
We ought also, perhaps, to notice a curious ascent made by Mr. Green on July 29, 1828, from the Eagle Tavern, City Road, on the back of a favourite pony. Underneath the balloon was a platform (in place of a car) containing places for the pony's feet, and some straps went loosely under his body, to prevent his lying down or moving about. Everything passed off satisfactorily, the balloon descending safely at Beckenham; the pony showed no alarm, but quietly ate some beans with which its rider supplied it in the air. Equestrian ascents have since been repeated. In 1852, Madame Poitevin, who had made several such journeys in Paris, ascended from Cremorne Gardens, London, on horseback (as "Europa on a bull"); but after the first journey its repetition was stopped in England by application to the police courts, as the exhibition outraged public feeling. Lieutenant Gale was killed at Bordeaux on Sept. 8, 1850, in descending after an equestrian ascent, through mismanagement in landing of the horse. M. Poitevin, descending in 1858, after an equestrian ascent from Paris, was nearly drowned in the sea near Malaga. Among remarkable balloon ascents must also be noticed that of Mr. Wise, from St Louis, on June 23, 1859, in which a distance of 1120 miles was traversed.
In 1863, Nadar, a well-known photographer at Paris, constructed an enormous balloon, which he called "Le Geant." It was the largest gas-balloon ever constructed, containing over 200,000 cubic feet of gas. Underneath it was placed a smaller balloon, called a compensator, the object of which was to prevent loss of gas during the voyage. The car had two stories, and was, in fact, a model of a cottage in wicker-work, 8 feet in height by 13 feet in length, containing a small printing --office, a photographic department, a refreshment --room, a lavatory, &c., The first ascent took place at fve o'clock on Sunday, October 4, 1863, from the Champ de Mars. There were thirteen persons in the car, including one lady, the Princess de la Tour d"Auvergne, and the two aeronauts Louis and Jules Godard. In spite of the elaborate preparation that had been made and the stores of provisions that were taken up, the balloon descended at nine o'clock, at Meaux, the early descent being rendered necessary, it was said, by an accident to the valve-line. A second ascent was made a fortnight later, viz., on October 18; there were nine passengers, including Madam Nadar. The balloon descended at the expiration of seventeens hours, near Nienburg in Hanover, a distance of about 400 miles. A strong wind was blowing, and the balloon was dragged over the ground a distance of 7 or 8 miles. All the passengers were bruised, and some more seriously hurt. The balloon and car were then brought to England, and exhibited for some time at the Crystal Palace at the end of 1863 and beginning of 1864. The two ascents of Nadar's balloon excited an extraordinary amount of enthusiasm and interest, vastly out of proportion to what they were entitled to. The balloon was larger than any of the same kind that had previously ascended; but this was scarcely more than just appreciable to the eye, as the doubling the contents of a balloon makes comparatively slight addition to its diameter. M. Nadar's idea was to obtain sufficient money, by the exhibition of his balloon, to carry a plan of aerial locomotion he had conceived possible by means of the principle of the screw; in fact, he spoke of "Le Geant" as "the last balloon." He also started L'Aeronaute, a newspaper devoted to aerostation, and published a small book, which was translated into English under the title The Right to fly. Nadar's ascents had not the remotest connection with science, although he claimed that they had; nor was his knowledge, as shown in his writings, sufficient to have enabled him to advance it in any way.
Directly after Nadar's two balloon ascents, M. Eugene Godard constructed what was perhaps the largest aerial machine that has ever been made. It was a Montgolfier or fire-balloon, of nearly half-a-million cubic feet capacity (more than double the capacity of Nadar's). The balloon Flesselles, 1783, is said to have slightly exceeded this size. The air was heated by an 18 feet stove, weighing, with the chimney, 980 lb. This furnace was fed by straw; and the "car" consisted of a gallery surrounding it. Two ascents of this balloon were made from Cremorne gardens, on July 20 and July 28, 1864. after the first journey the balloon descended at Greenwich, and after the second at Walthamstow, where it was injured by being blown against a tree. Notwithstanding the enormous size of the balloon, M. Godard asserted that it could be inflated in half an hour, and the inflation at Cremorne did not occupy more than an hour. The ascent of the balloon was a very striking sight, the flames roaring up the chimney of the furnace into the enormous globe above. The trusses of straw were suspended by ropes from the gallery below the car, and were drawn up and placed in the furnace as required. This was the first fire-balloon seen by the inhabitants of London, and it was the second ascent of this kind that had been made in this country, Mr. Sneath's ascent at Mansfield having been the first, as Mr. Tytler's experiment at Edinburgh in 1784 was a leap, not an ascent, as no source of heat was taken up. in spite of the rapidity with which the inflation was effected, few who saw the ascent could fail to receive an impression most favourable to the gas-balloon in the matter of safety, as a rough descent, with a heated furnace as it were in the car, could not be other than most dangerous.
In the summer of 1873 the proprietors of the New York Daily Graphic, an illustrated paper, determined to construct a very large balloon, and enable Mr. Wise, the well known American aeronaut, to realize his favourite scheme of crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. It was believed by many that a current from west to east existed constantly at heights above 10,000 feet, but this seems very uncertain. Mr. Green having stated that he had met with such a current, Mr. Glaisher made a point of investigating the directions of the wind at different heights in his ascents, but found that they were as capricious as near the ground. The same result was found by others, and a comparison of the courses of the balloons sent up from Paris during the siege will show that no constant current exists. The American project came to nothing owing to the quality of the material of which the balloon was made. The size was said to be such as to contain 400,000 cubic feet, so that it would lift a weight of 14,000 lb. On September 12, 1873, during its inflation, Mr. Wise declared the material of which it was made was so bad that he could not ascend in it, though the other two persons who were to accompany him agreed o go. When, however, 325,000 feet of gas had been put into the balloon, a rent was observed, and the whole rapidly collapsed. Although this accident was greatly regretted at the time, it seems pretty certain, from what subsequently took place, that the aeronauts would not have succeeded in their object, and a serious mishap was probably avoided. On October 6, 1873, Mr. Donaldson and two others ascended from New York in the balloon after it had been repaired, and effected a perilous descent in Connecticut. During the autumn of 1873 a great amount of discussion took place both in England and America about the existence of the westerly current and the subject of aerostation. In September 1873 Mr. Barnum, the well-known American showman, visited England with the view of eliciting whether, in the opinion of those best qualified, there was sufficient probability of a successful result to induce him to undertake the construction of a suitable balloon.
By aeronauts (omitting the pioneers Lunardi Zambeccari, and others who have been already spoken of ) we mean persons who have followed ballooning as a business or trade. Of these, perhaps the best known and most successful have been Blanchard, Gernerin, the Sadlers, Mr. Charles Green, Mr Wise, Mr. Coxwell, and the bothers Godard. Blanchard made, it is said, thirty-six ascents, his first having taken place on March 2, 1784. His wife also made many ascents; she was killed on July 7, 1819. Garnerin is said to have ascended more than fifty times; he introduced night ascents with fireworks, &c., the first of which took place on August 4, 1807. We shall have occasion to refer to him again when we treat of parachutes. Mr. James Sadler made about sixty ascents, the first of which took place on October 12, 1784. His two sons, John and Windham, both followed in their father's steps; the latter was killed in 1817. In the minds of most Englishmen the practice of ballooning will, for a long time, be associated with the name of Mr. Charles Green, the most celebrated of English aeronauts, who having made his first ascent on July 19, 1821, only died in the year 1870, at a very advanced age. He is credited with 526 ascents by Mr. Turnor; and from advertisements, &c., we see that in 1838 he had made 249. Mr Green may be said to have reduced ballooning to routine, and he made more ascents than any other person has ever accomplished. He accompanied Mr. Welsh in his scientific ascents, and to him is also due the invention of the guide rope, which he used in many of his voyages with success. It merely consisted of a rope not less than 1000 feet in length, which was attached to the ring of the balloon (from which the car is suspended), and hung down so that the end of it was allowed to trail along the surface of the ground, the object being to prevent the continual waste of gas and ballast that takes place in an ordinary balloon journey, as such an expenditure is otherwise always going on, owing to the necessity of keeping the balloon from getting either too high or too low. If a balloon provided with a guide rope sinks so low that a good deal of the rope rests on the earth, it is relieved of so much weight and rises again; if, on the contrary, it rises so high that but a little is supported by the earth, a greater weight is borne by the balloon, and equilibrium is thus produced. Mr. Green frequently used the guide rope, and found that its action was satisfactory, and that it did not, as might be supposed, become entangled in trees, &c. It was used in the Nassan journey, but more recent aeronauts have dispensed with it. Still, in crossing the sea or making a very long journey, where the preservation of the gas was of great importance, it could not fail to be valuable. Mr. Green had, in his time, more experience in the management than has fallen to the lot of any one else, and he brought to bear on the subject a great amount of skill and practical knowledge. There is also a plain matter-of-fact style about his accounts of his ascents that contrasts very favourably with the writings of some other aeronauts. Mr. Coxwell, who has made several hundred ascents, first ascended in 1844, under the name of Wells. He it was who, as aeronaut, accompanied Mr. Glaisher in most of his scientific ascents, 1872-65. The Godard family have made very many ascents in France, and are well known in all countries in connection with aeronautics. It was to two of the Godards that the management of the military balloons in the Italian campaign was entrusted; it was M. Jules Godard who succeeded in opening the valve in the dangerous descent of Nadar's balloon in Hanover in 1863, and it was Eugene Godard who constructed perhaps the largest Montgolfier ever made, an account of the ascensions of which has been given above. M. Dupuis Delcourt was also a well-known aeronaut; he has written on the subject of aerostation, and his balloons were employed by MM. Bixio and Barral in their scientific ascents. In America Mr. Wise is par excellence the aeronaut; he has made several hundred ascents, and many of them are distinguished for much skill and daring. He also appears to have pursued his profession with more energy capacity than has any other aeronaut in recent times, and his History of Aerostation shows him to possess much higher scientific attainments than balloonists usually have. In fact, Mr. Wise stands alone in this respect, as nearly all professional aeronauts are destitute of scientific knowledge.
The number of fatal accident that have occurred in the history of balloons is not very great, and nearly all have resulted either from the use of the fire-balloon, or from want of knowledge, or carelessness on the part of the aeronauts themselves. We have already referred to the accidents that closed the careers of Platre de Rozier and Zambeccari. On November 25, 1802, Signor Olivari, at Orleans, and on July 17, 1812, Herr Bittorff, at Mannheim, perished in consequence of the accidental combustion of their Montgolfirs. On April 7, 1806, M. Mosment ascended from Lille upon a platform, from which he accidentally fell and was killed. On July 7, 1819, Madame Blanchard ascended from Paris at night with fireworks attached to the car, a spark from one of which ignited the gas in the balloon, and she was precipitated to the ground and killed. Lieut. Harris ascended from London on May 25, 1824, but, through mismanagement of the valve-line, he allowed all the gas to escape suddenly from the balloon, which descended with terrible velocity. He was killed by the fall, but his companion, Miss Stocks, escaped almost uninjured. In an ascent from Blanckburn on September 29, 1824, by Mr. Windham Sadler, the balloon, in rising, struck against a chimney, and the aeronaut fell over the side of the car and was killed. On July 24, 1837, Mr. Cocking descended from a balloon in a parachute, which struck the ground with such violence that he was killed on the spot. In descending with a horse on September 8, 1850, Lieut. Gale was killed; and in 1863 Mr. Chamber was killed at Nottingham, his death arising from suffocation by the gas that poured out at the neck of the balloon, which was not separated from the car by a sufficient interval.
The number of accidents that have occurred bears but a very small proportion to the number of successful ascents that have been made. Mr. Monck Mason, in his Aeronautica, gives a list of the names, with the dates and places of their ascent, of all persons who, as far as he could find, had ascended previously to 1838. His list contains 471 names, which are distributed among the inhabitants of the different countries as follows: - England, 313; France, 104; Italy, 18; Germany and the German States, 17; Turkey, 5; Prussia, 3; Russia, 2; Poland, 2; Hungary; 2; Denmark, 1; Switzerland, 1; and the United States, 3. Among these are the names of 49 women, of whom 28 are English, 17 french, 3 German, and 1 Italian. Some of the persons had ascended a great number of times; thus Mr. Charles Green's ascents alone amounted to more than 249; and those of the members of the same family to 535. Mr. Mason calculated that the whole number of ascents executed by Englishmen was 752. Of the 471 adventures only nine were killed, and of these six owed their fate to the dangers attendant on the use of the fire-balloon, and one to bravado. The great number of our own countrymen that appear in the above list is no doubt partially due to the fact that it was compiled by an Englishmen, to whom, English newspapers and other records were more accessible; still there is no reason to doubt that a much greater number of Englishmen have ascended than inhabitants of any other country, as balloons as an amusement at fetes, &c., have been more common here. The number of Englishmen who have ascended might now be estimated at from 1500 to 2000.
We can call to mind but three fatal casualties that have taken place since Mr. Mason compiled his list, viz., Mr. Cocking's parachite accident, Mr. Gale's death in 1850, and Mr. Chambers' death in 1863.
We come now to an account of the use to which the balloons has been applied for the advancement of science. The ascents that have been made are by Sacharof, Biot, and Gay-Lussac in 1804, by Bixio and Barral in 1850, by Mr. Welsh in 1852, by Mr. Glaisher in 1862-66, and MM. Flammarion and De Fonvielle in 1867-68. We shall give a brief account of these ascents, because, as has been remarked, with a few exception, they form the only useful purpose to which the balloon has been applied. The general description of the phenomena, &c., met with in a high ascent, and the general results found, are referred to in the account of Mr. Glaisher's experiments, as not only are his accounts more detailed, but the number of ascents made by him is much in excess of that of all theothers put together.
The Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg, entertaining the opinion that the experiments made on mountain-sides by De Luc, De Saussure, Humboldt, and others must give results different from those made in free air at the same heights, resolved in 1803 that a balloon ascent should be made for the purpose of making scientific researches. Accordingly, on January 30, 1804, M. Sacharof, a member of the academy, ascended, with M. Robertson as aeronaut, in a balloon belonging to the latter, which was inflated with hydrogen gas. The ascent was made at a quarter past seven, and the descent effected at a quarter to eleven. No great height was reached, as the barometer never sank below 23 in., corresponding to les than 1 ¸ mile. The experiments were not very systematically made, and the chief results were the filling and bringing down several flasks of air collected at different elevations, and the supposed observation that the magnetic dip was altered. A telescope was fixed in the bottom of the car pointing vertically downwards, so that the travelers might be able to ascertain exactly the spot over which they were floating at any moment. M. Sacharof found that, on shouting downwards through his speaking --trumpet, the echo from the earth was quite distinct, and at his height was audible after an interval of about ten seconds. M. Sacharof's account is given in the Philosophical Magazine (Tilloch's), vol. xxi. Pp. 193-200 (1805).
At the commencement of 1804 Laplace proposed to the members of he French Academy of Sciences that balloons should be employed for the purpose of solving certain physical problems, adding that, as the government had placed funds at their disposal for the prosecution of useful experiments, he thought they might be well applied to this kind of research. The proportion was supported by Chaptal the chemist, who was then minister of the interior, and accordingly the necessary arrangements were speedily effected, the charge of the experiments being given to MM. Gay-Lussac and Biot.
The principal object of this ascent was to determine if the magnetic force experienced any appreciable diminution at heights above the earth's surface, De saussure having found that such was the case upon the Col du Geant. On August 24, 1804, MM. Gay-Lussac and Biot (the former eminent as a chemist and the latter as a natural philosopher) ascended from the Conservatoire des Arts at ten o'clock in the morning. Their magnetic experiments were incommoded by the rotation of the balloon, but they found that, up to the height of 13,000 feet, the time of vibration of a magnet was appreciably the same as on the earth's surface. They found also that the air became drier as they ascended. The height reached was about 13,000 feet, and the temperature declined from 63° Fahr. To 51°. The descent was effected about half-past one, at Meriville, 18 leagues from Paris.
In a second experiment, which was made on September 16, 1804, M. Gay-Lussac ascended alone. The balloon left the conservatoire des Arts at 9.40 A.M., and descended at 3.45 P.M. between Rouen and Dieppe. The chief result obtained was that the magnetic force, like gravitation, did not experience any sensible variation at heights from the earth's surface which we can attain to. Gay-Lussac also brought down air collected at the height of nearly 23,000 feet, and on analysis it appeared that its constitution was the same as that of air collected at the earth's surface. At the time of leaving the earth the thermometer stood at 82 o Fahr., and at the highest point reached (23,000 feet) it was 14° .9 Fahr. Gay-Lussac remarked that at his highest point there were still clouds above him.
From 1804 to 1850 there is no record of any scientific ascents in balloons having been undertaken. In the latter year MM. Bixio and Barral made two ascents for this purpose. They ascended from the Paris Observatory on June 29, 1850, at 10.27 A.M., the balloon being inflated with hydrogen has. The day was a rough one, and the ascent took place suddenly, without any previous attempt having been made to test the ascensional force of the balloon. When liberated, it rose with great rapidity, and becoming fully inflated it pressed upon the network, bulging out at the top and bottom. As the ropes by which the car was suspended were too short, the balloon soon covered the travelers like an immense hood. In endeavouring to secure the valve-rope, a rent was made in the balloon, and the gas escaped so close to the faces of the voyagers as almost to suffocate them. Finding that they were descending then too rapidly, they threw overboard everything available, including their coats, and only excepting the instruments. The ground was reached at 10h. 45m., near Lagny. Of course no obserbations were made.
MM. Bixio and Barral determined to ascend again without delay, and accordingly, on July 27, 1850, they repeated the experiment. The ascent was remarkable on account of the extreme cold met with. At about 20,000 feet the temperature was 15° Fahr., below that experienced by Gay-Lussac at the same elevation. The existence of these very cold clouds served to explain certain meteorological phenomena that were observed on the earth both the day before and the day after the ascent. Some pigeons were taken up in this, as in most other high ascents, and liberated; they showed a reluctance to leave the car, and then fell heavily downwards.
In July 1852 the committee of the Kew Observatory resolved to institute a series of balloon ascents, with the view of investigating such meteorological and physical phenomena as require the presence of an observer at a great height in the atmosphere. Mr. Welsh, of the Kew Observatory, was the observer, and Mr. Green's great Nassau balloon was employed, Mr. Green himself being the aeronaut. Four ascents were made in 1852, viz., on August 17, August 26, October 31, and November 10, when the respective heights of 19,510, 19,000, 12,640, and 22,930 feet were attained. A siphon barometer, dry and wet bulb thermometers, aspirated and free, and a Regnault's hygrometer were taken up. Some air collected at a considerable height was found on analysis not to differ appreciably in its composition from air collected near the ground. The original observations are printed in extenso in the Philosophical Transactions for 1853, pp. 311-346. The lowest temperatures met with in the four ascents were respectively 8°.7 Fahr. (19,380); 12°.4 Fahr. (18,370); 16°.4 Fahr. (12,640); - 10°.5 Fahr. (22,370); the decline of temperature being very regular.
At the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at Aberdeen in 1859, a committee was appointed for the purpose of making observations in the higher strata of the atmosphere by means of the balloon. For the first two years nothing was effected, owing to the want both of an observer and of a suitable balloon. In 1861, at Manchester, the committee was reappointed, and it then consisted of Colonel Sykes (chairman) Mr. Airy, Sir David Brewster, Mr. Fairbairn, Admiral Fitzroy, Mr. Gassiot, Mr. James Glaisher, Sir J. Herschel, Dr. Lee, Dr. Lloyd, Dr. W.A. Miller, Dr. Robinson, and dr. Tyndall. Some unsuccessful experiments were made with a balloon of Mr. Green's, and also with one hired from the proprietors of Cremorne Gardens, which turned out to be in a hopelessly leaky condition; the trained observers also, on whom the committee had relied, failed to perform their duties. In this state of affairs, Mr. Coxwell, an aeronaut who had made a good many ascents, was communicated with, and he agreed to construct a new balloon, of 90,000 cubic feet capacity, on the condition that the committee would undertake to use it, and pay 25 pounds for each high ascent made especially for the committee, the latter defraying also the cost of gas, &c., so that the expense of each high ascent amounted to nearly 50 pounds. An observer being still wanted, Mr. Glaisher, a member of the committee, offered himself to take the observations, and accordingly the first ascent was made on July 17, 1862, from the gas-works at Wolverhampton, this town being chosen on account of its central position in the country. Altogether, Mr. Glaisher made twenty-eight ascents, the last having taken place on May 26, 1866. Of these only seven were specially high ascents, although six others were undertaken for the objects of the committee alone. On the other occasions Mr. Glaisher availed himself of public ascents from the Crystal Palace and other places of entertainment, merely taking his place like the other passengers. In the last six ascents another aeronaut, Mr. Orton, and a smaller balloon, were employed. The dates, places of ascent, and greatest heights (in feet) attained in the twenty-eight, ascents were --1862: July 17, Wolver Hampton, 26,177; July 30, Crystal Palace, 6937; August 18, Wilvehampton 23,377; August 20, Crystal Palace, 5900; August 21, Hendon, 14,355; September 1, Crystal Palace, 4190; September 5, Wolverhampton, 37,000; September 8, Crystal Palace, 5428. 1863: March, 31 Crystal Palace, 22,884; April 18, Crystal Palace, 24,163; June 26, Wolverton, 23,200; July 11, Crystal Palace 6623; July 21, Crystal Palace, 3298; August 31, Newcastle-upon Tyne, 8033; September 29, Wolverhampton 16,590; October 9, Crystal Palace, 7310. 1864: January 12, Woolwich, 11,897; April 6, Woolwich, 11,075; June 13, Crystal Palace, 3543; June 20, Derby, 4280; June 27, Crystal Palace, 4898; August 29, Crystal Palace, 14,581; December 1, Woolwich 5431; December 30, Woolwich, 3735. 1865: February 27, Woolwich, 4865; October 2, Woolwich 1949; December 2, Woolwich, 4628. 1866: May 26, Windson, 6325. Of these, all the ascents from Wolverhampton (four in number) and from Woolwich (seven in number) were undertaken wholly for the committee, and Mr. Glaisher was merely accompanied by the aeronaut, whose business it was to manage the balloon. The expense of the special high ascents (about 50 pounds for each, as stated above) rendered it desirable, when possible, to take advantage of the desire felt by many to accompany Mr. Glaisher in his journey, and admit one or two other travelers; and of this kind were one or two of the ascents from the Crystal Palace, though the majority, in which the elevation attained frequently feel short of a mile, were the ordinary public ascents advertised beforehand. It is not possible here to give any complete account of the results obtained, and it would be superfluous, as the observations, both as made and after reduction, are printed in the British Association Reports, 1862-66. It will be enough, after explaining the objects of the experiments, &c., to describe briefly one or two of the most remarkable ascents, and then state the kind of conclusions that follow from them as a whole.
The primary object was to determine the temperature of the air, and its hygrometrical state at different elevations to as great a heights as could be reached; and the secondary objects were -- (1) to determine the temperature of the dew --point by Daniel's and Regnault's hygrometers, as well as by the dry and wet bulb thermometers, and to compare the results; (2) to compare the readings of an aneroid barometer with those of a mercurial barometer up to the height of 5 miles; (3) to determine the electrical state of the air, (4) the oxygenic condition of the atmosphere, and (5) the time of vibration of a magnet; (6) to collect air at different elevations; (7) to note the height and kind of clouds, their density and thickness; (8) to determine the rate and direction of different currents in the atmosphere; and (9) to make observations on sound.
The instruments used were mercurial and aneroid barometers, dry and wet bulb thermometers, Daniell's dew-point hygrometer, Regnault's condensing hygrometer, maximum and minimum thermometers, a magnet for horizontal vibration, hermetically sealed glass tubes exhausted of air, and an electrometer. In one or two of the ascents a camera was taken up.
One end of the car was occupied by the aeronaut; near the other, in front of Mr. Glaisher, was placed a board or table, the extremities of which rested on the sides of the car; upon this board was placed suitable framework to carry the several thermometers, hygrometers, magnet, aneroid barometer, &c., a perforation through it admitted the lower branch of the mercurial barometer to descend below, leaving the upper branch at a convenient height for observing. A watch was placed directly opposite to Mr. Glaisher, the central space being occupied by his notebook. The aspirator (for Regnault's hygrometer) was fixed underneath the center of the board, so as to be conveniently workable by either feet or hands. Holes were cut in the board to admit the passage of the flexible tubes required for Regnault's hygrometer and the cry and wet bulb thermometers.
The first ascent was made, as has been stated, from Wolverhampton on July 17, 1862, and the journey was remarkable on account of a warm current that was met with at a great elevation. The weather, previous to the ascent, had been bad for a long time, and it had been delayed in consequence. The wind was still blowing from the west, and considerable difficulty was experienced in the preliminary arrangements, so that no instrument was fixed before starting. The balloon left at 9.43 A.M., and a height of 3800 feet was reached before an observation could be taken. At 4000 feet clouds were entered, and left at 8000 feet. The temperature of the air at starting was 59° Fahr., at 4000 feet it was 45°, and it descended to 26° at 10,000 feet, from which height to that of 13,000 feet there was no diminution. While passing through this space Mr. Glaisher put on additional clothing, feeling certain that a temperature below zero would be attained before the height of 5 miles was reached; but at the elevation of 15,500 feet the temperature was 30°, and at each successive reading, up to 19,5000, it increased, and was there 42°. The temperature then decreased rapidly, and was 16° at 26,000 feet. On descending it increased regularly to 27°.8 at 10,000 feet. A very rough descent, in which nearly 50 pounds worth of instruments were broken, was effected near Oakham, in Rutlandshire, in Rutlandshire, Mr. Coxwell having judged it prudent to descend on account of the proximity, as he supposed, of the Wash. In coming down, a cloud as entered at an elevation of 12,400 feet, and proved to be more than 8000 feet in thickness. The rise of temperature met with in this ascent was most remarkable.
The weather on the day (Aug. 18, 1862) of the third ascent was favourable, and there was but little wind. All the instruments were fixed before leaving the earth. A height of more than 4 miles was attained, and the balloon remained in the air about two hours. When at its highest point there were no clouds between the balloon and the earth, and the streets of Birmingham were distinctly visible. The descent was effected at Solihull, 7 miles from Birmingham. On the earth the temperature of the air was 67°.8, and that of the dew-point 54°.6; and they steadily decreased to 39°.5 and 22°.2 respectively at 11,500 feet. The balloon was then made to descend to the height of about 3000 feet, when both increased to 56°.0 and 47°.5 respectively. On throwing out ballast the balloon rose again, and the temperature declined pretty steadily to 24°.0, and that of the dew-point to --10°.0 at the height of 23,000 feet. During this ascent Mr. Glaisher's hands became quite blue, and he experienced a qualmish sensation in the brain and stomach, resembling the approach of sea-sickness; but no further inconvenience, besides such as resulted from the cold and the difficulty of breathing, was experienced. This feeling of sickness never occurred again to Mr. Galisher in any subsequent ascent.
The ascent from the Crystal Palace on Agust 20, 1862, was merely an ordinary one for the public amusement, in which Mr. Glaisher took a place in the car. In these low ascents from places of entertainment, in which other persons also were passengers, the large board stretching right across the car could not be used. A smaller frame was therefore made, which could be screwed on to the edge of the car, to carry the watch, siphon barometer, aneroid barometer, dry and wet bulb thermometers, grid-iron thermometer, and Daniell's and Regmault's hygrometers, which comprised all the instruments usually taken up in these low ascents. In the first low ascent, July 30, this framework was fixed inside the car; but as it seemed possible that the warmth proceeding from the voyagers might influence the readings of the instruments, it was always afterwards fixed outside, and projected beyond the car, so that all the instruments were freely exposed to the surrounding air. The ascent on August 20 was a low one, and presented no remarkable feature except that the balloon was nearly becalmed over London. The earth was left at 6.26P.M. and the air was so quiet that at the height of three-quarters of a mile the balloon was still over the Crystal Palace. At 7th. 47m. it was over London, and moving so slowly that it was thought desirable to ascend above the clouds in hopes of meeting with a more rapid current of air. At 8h. 5m. the voyagers were above the clouds, and it became quite light again, darkness having come on whilst hovering over London, at which time the gradual illumination by the lights in the streets formed a most wonderful sight, and one never to be forgotten. The roar, or rather loud hum, proceeding from the great city was also most remarkable. After having been above the clouds some time, the lowing of cattle and other agricultural sounds were heard. Accordingly, the valve-line was pulled, and the balloon descended below the clouds, when the light of London was seen in the distance as a misty glare. The darkness increased as the balloon descended very slowly, and it at length touched the ground so gently in the middle of a field at Mill Hill, near Hendon, that those in the car were scarcely aware of the contact. There were twelve voyagers altogether, and when with some trouble sufficient countrymen were collected to take their places and enable them to leave the car, it was resolved to anchor the ballon for the night and to make an ascent in the early morning. Accordingly, at 4.30 A.M. on August 21, the earth was left, there being altogether five persons in the car. It was a dull, warm, cloudy morning, with the sky overcast. In about an hour the height of 3 miles was attained, and the temperature had fallen to 23 o, having been 58 o on the earth before leaving. The aspect of the clouds under formation before an during the rising of the sun was marvelous in the extreme, and baffled description. There were seen shining masses of cloud in mountain chains, rising perpendicularly from the plain, with summits of dazzling whiteness, forming vast ravines, down which the balloon appeared to glide, or pass through their sides, into other valleys, until, as the balloon rose far above, all appeared a mighty sea of white cloud. The descent was effected about a quarter past seven, and the transition from the magnificent scene above the clouds to the ugly prospect of the dreary earth as seen early on a dull morning, with a uniform leaden sky, was most depressing. The place of descent was near Biggleswade.
The most noteworthy fact in connection with the ascent, September 1, 1862, was, that from the balloon the clouds were observed to be forming below, and seen to be following the whole course of the Thames from the Nore to Richmond. The clouds were above the river following all its windings, and extending neither to the right nor to the left. It was about the time of high water at London Bridge, and the phenomenon was no doubt connected with the warm water from the sea.
As in the ascent, September 5, 1862, the greatest height ever reached was attained, it is desirable to give the account of it in some detail, and in M. Glaisher's own words. It is only necessary to premise that it was intended on this occasion to ascend as high as possible. The following is an extract from Mr. Glaisher's account (British Association Report, 1862, pp. 383-385): -
"This ascent had been delayed owing to the unfavourable state of the weather. The balloon left at 1h. 3m. P.M. The temperature of the air was 59 o, and the dew-point 50°. At the height of 1 mile it was 41°, dew-point 38°; and shortly afterwards we entered a cloud of about 1100 feet in thickness, in which the temperature of the air fell to 36°, the dew-point being the same, thus indicating that the air was here saturated with moisture. On emerging from the cloud at 1h. 17m. we came upon a flood of strong sunlight, with a beautiful blue sky, without a cloud above us, and a magnificent sea of cloud below, its surface being varied with endless hills, hillocks, mountain chains, and many snow-white masses rising from it. I here tried to take a view with the camera; but we were rising with too great rapidity, and going round and round too quickly to enable me to do so. The flood of light, however, was so great that all I should have needed would have been a momentary exposure, as Dr. Hill Norris had kindly furnished me with extremely sensitive dry plates for the purpose. We reached 2 miles in height at 1h. 31m. The temperature had fallen to the freezing-point, and the dew-point to 26°. We were 3 miles high at 1h. 28m. with a temperature of 18°, and dew-point 13 o. At 1h. 39m. we had reached 4 miles, and the temperature was 8°, and dew-point -- 15°; in ten minutes more we had reached the fifth mile, and the temperature had passed below zero, and then read -- 2°, and at this point no dew was observed on Regnault's hygrometer when cooled down to- 30°; but a dew-point obtained from the readings of dry and wet gave-36°. Up to this time I had taken observations with comfort. I had experience no difficulty in breathing, whilst Mr. Coxwell, in consequence of the necessary exertions he had no make, had breathed with difficulty for some time. At 1h. 51m. the barometer reading was 11.05 inches, but this requires a substractive correction of 0.25 inch, as found by comparison with Lord Wrottesley's standard barometer just before starting. I afterwards read the dry thermometer as-5 o; this must have been about 1h. 52m. or later; I could not see the column of mercury in the wet bulb thermometer; nor afterwards the hands of the watch, nor the fine divisions on any instrument. I asked Mr. Coxwell to help me to read the instruments, as I experienced a difficulty in seeing. In consequence, however, of the rotatory motion of the balloon, which had continued without ceasing since the earth had been left, the valve-line had become twisted and he had to leave the car and mount into the ring above to adjust it. At this time I looked at the barometer, and found it to be 10 inches, still decreasing fast; its true reading therefore was 9 x inches, implying a height of 29,000 feet. Shortly afterwards I laid my arm upon the table, possessed of its full vigour, and on being desirous of using it, I found it powerless-it must have lost its power momentarily. I tried to move the other arm, and found it powerless also. I then tried to shake myself, and succeeded in shaking my body. I seemed to have to limbs. I then looked at the barometer, and whilst doing so my head fell on my left shoulder. I struggled and shook my body again, but could not move my arms. I got my head upright, but for an instant only, when it fell on my right shoulder, and then I feel backwards, my back resting against the side of the car, and my head on its edge; in this position my eyes were directed towards Mr. Coxwell in the ring. When I shook my body I seemed to have full power over the muscles of the back, and considerable power over those of the neck, but none over either my arms or my legs; in fact, I seemed to have none. as in the case of the arms, all muscular power was lost in an instant from my back and neck. I dimly saw Mr. Coxwell in the ring, and endeavoured to speak, but could not, when in an instant intense black darkness came; the optic nerve finally lost power suddenly. I was still conscious, with as active a brain as at the present moment whilst writings this. I thought I had been seized with asphyxia, and that I should experience no more, as death would come unless we speedily descendent; other thoughts were actively entering my mind, when I suddenly became unconscious as on going to sleep. I cannot tell anything of the sense of hearing; the perfect stillness and silence of the regions 6 miles from the earth(and at this time we were between 6 and 7 miles high) is such that no sound reaches the ear.
"My last observation was made at 1h. 54m. at 29,000 feet. I suppose two or three minutes fully were occupied between my eyes becoming insensible to seeing fine divisions and 1h. 54m. and then that two or three minutes more passed till I was insensible; therefore I think this took place at about 1h. 56m. or 1h. 57m. Whilst powerless I heard the words Îtemperature' and Îobservation,' and I knew Mr. Coxwell was in the car speaking to me, and endeavouring to arouse me; therefore consciousness and hearing had returned. I then heard him speak more emphatically, but I could not see, speak, or move. I heard him again say, 'Do try-now do.' Then I saw the instruments dimly, then Mr. Coxwell, and very shortly saw clearly. I rose in my seat and looked round, as though waking from sleep, though not refreshed by sleep, and said to Mr. Coxwell, 'I have been insensible.' He said, 'You have; and I too, very nearly.' I then drew up my legs, which had been extended before me, and took a pencil in my hand to begin observations. Mr. Coxwell told me that he had lost the use of his hands, which were black, and I poured brandy over them.
"I resumed my observations at 2h. 7m., recording the barometer reading at 11.53 inches and temperature -- 2°. I supposed that three or four minutes were occupied from the time of my hearing the words 'temperature' and 'observation' till I began to observe. If son, then returning consciousness came at 2h. 4m., and this gives seven minutes for total insensibility. I found the water in the vessel supplying the wet bulb thermometer which I had by frequent disturbances kept from freezing, was one solid mass of ice; and it did not all melt until after we had been on the ground sometime.
"Mr. Coxwell told me that whilst in the ring he felt it piercingly cold; that hoar-frost was all round the neck of the balloon; on attempting to leave the ring he found his hands frozen, and he had to place his arms on the ring and drop down; that he thought for a moment I had lain back to rest myself; that he spoke to me without eliciting a reply; that he then noticed my legs projected and my arms lung down by my side; that my countenance was serene and placid, without the earnestness and anxiety he had noticed before going into the ring, and then it struck him I was insensible. He wished to approach me, but could not, and he felt insensibility coming over himself; that he became anxious to open the valve, but in consequence of his having lost the use of his hands he could not, and ultimately did so by seizing the cord with his teeth, and dipping his head two or three times, until the balloon took a decided turn downwards.
"No inconvenience followed this insensibility, and when we dropped it was in a country where no conveyance of any kind could be obtained, so that I had to walk between 7 and 8 miles.
"The descent was at first very rapid; we passed downwards 3 miles in nine minutes; the balloon's career was then checked, and it finally descended in the center of a large grass field at Cold Weston 7 miles from Ludlow.
"In this ascent six pigeons were taken up. One was thrown out at the height of 3 miles, when it extended its wings and dropped as a piece of paper, a second, at 4 miles, flew vigorously round and round, apparently taking a dip each time; a third was thrown out between 4 and 5 miles, and it fell downwards as a stone; a fourth was thrown out at 4 miles on descending; it flew a circle, and shortly alighted on the top of the balloon. The two remaining pigeons were brought down to the ground. One was fond to be dead, and the other, a carrier, was still living, but would not leave the hand when I attempted to throw it off, till, after a quarter of an hour, it began to peck a piece of ribbon which encircled its neck, and was then jerked off the finger, and flew with some vigour towards Wolverhampton. One of the pigeons returned to Wolverhampton on Sunday, the 7th, and this is the only one that has been heard of."
Mr. Glaisher found from his observation-book that the last observation was made at 29,000 feet, and that at this time the balloon was ascending at the rate of 1000 feet per minute; and that when he resumed his observations, it was descending at the rate of 2000 feet per minute, the interval being thirteen minutes. This gives 36,000 or 37,000 feet for the greatest height attained. Two other series of considerations led to the latter height, and there can be no doubt that the altitude of 37,000 feet, or 7 miles, was attained on this occasion.
In the ascent, April 18, 1863, 24,000 feet of elevation was reached. It was remarkable for the rapidity of the descent. At 2h. 44m., the balloon being then at a height of 10,000 feet, Mr. Coxwell suddenly caught sight of Beachy Head, and Mr. Glaisher, looking over the edge of the car, saw the sea, apparently immediately underneath. There was no time to be lost, and Mr. Coxwell hung on to the valveline, telling Mr. Glaisher to leave his instruments and do the same. The earth was reached at 2h. 48m., the two miles of descent having been effected in four minutes. The balloon struck the groun near Newhaven with a terrible crash, but, from the free use of the valve-line, it was so crippled that it did not move afterwards. All the instruments, of the value of more than 25 pounds, including some that were unreplaceable, were broken, and Mr. Glaisher was hurt. In the descent, after the first high ascent on July 17, 1862, the earth was struck with so much violence that most of the instruments were broken, and Mr. Glaisher (who was closed in by his observing board) was a good deal hurt then. In subsequent ascents, therefore, boxes were used filled with small mattresses, in which the instruments could be hurriedly placed, and the board was so arranged that it could be turned over and hung outside the car. These improvements had the effect of diminishing the danger to himself and the chance of breakage of the instruments, but in the Newhaven descent there was not sufficient time to put them in practice.
The circumstances met with in the ascent, June 26, 1863, were so remarkable that a short account cannot be omitted. The morning was at first very bright and fine, but between 11 and 12 o'clock a change took place; the sky became covered with clouds, and the wind rose and blew strongly, so that great difficulty was experienced in completing the inflation. At 1h. 3m. the balloon left; in four minutes, at 4000 feet high, cloud was entered. Mr. Glaisher expected soon to break through it, and enter into bright sunshine as usual, but nothing of the sort took place, as, on emergence, clouds were seen both above and below. At 9000 feet the sighing and moaning of the wind were heard, and Mr. Glaisher satisfied himself that this was due, not to the cordage of the balloon, but to opposing currents. At this time the sun was seen faintly, but instead of its brilliance increasing although the balloon was then two miles high, a fog was entered, and the sight of the sun lost. The balloon next passed through a dry fog, which was left at 12,000 feet, and after the sun had been seen faintly for a little time, a wetting fog was entered.
"At 15,000 feet," Mr. Glaisher proceeds "we were still in fog, but it was not so wetting. At 16,000 feet we entered a dry fog; at 17,000 feet saw faint gleams of the sun, and heard a train. We were now about 3 miles high; at this time we were not in cloud, but clouds were below us; others were on our level at a distance, and yet more above us. We looked with astonishment at each other, and said as we were rising steadily we surely must soon pass through them. At 17,500 feet we were again enveloped in fog, which became wetting at 18,500 feet; we left this cloud below at 19,600 feet. At 20,000 feet the sun was just visible. We were now approaching 4 miles high; dense clouds were still above us; for a space of 2000 to 3000 feet we met with no fog, but on passing above 4 miles our attention was first attracted to a dark mass of cloud, and then to another on our level; both these clouds had fringed edges- they were both nimbi. Without the slighter doubt both these clouds were regular rain-clouds. Whilst looking at them we again lost sight of everything, being enveloped in fog whilst passing upwards through 1000 feet. At 22,000 feet, we again emerged, and were above clouds on passing above 23,000 feet. At six minutes to 2 o'clock we heard a railway train; the temperature here was 18 o. I wished still to ascend to find the limits of this vapour, but Mr. Coxwell said, ÎWe are too short of sand; I cannot go higher; we must not even stop here.' I was therefore most reluctantly compelled to abandon the wish, and looked searchingly around. At this highest point, in close proximity to us, were rain-clouds; below us dense fog. I was again reminded that we must not stop. With a hasty glance everywhere, above, below, around, I saw the sky nearly covered with dark clouds of a stratus character, with cirri still higher, and small spaces of blue sky between them. The blue was not the blue of 4 or 5 miles high as I had always before seen it, but a faint blue, as seen from the earth when the air is charged with moisture."
In the downward journey an even more remarkable series of circumstances was met with; for a fall of rain was passed through, and then below it a snow-storm, the flakes being entirely composed of spiculae of ice and innumerable snow-crystals. On reaching the ground near Ely the lower atmosphere was found to be thick, misty, and murky. At Wolverton the afternoon was cold, raw, and disagreeable for a summer's day. The fact of rain-clouds extending layer above layer to a height of 4 miles, was one never hitherto regarded as possible; and the occurrence of rain and snow, and the latter underneath the former, and all happening on a day in the very middle of summer, formed a series of most curious and unexpected phenomena.
Mr. Glaisher having, in one of his descents, which took place near sunset, observed that the temperature was the same through a very considerable height, it occurred to him that after dark it was quite possible that, for some elevation above the earth's surface, the temperature might even increase with increase of height; and to determine this he arranged for some ascents to be made after sunset, so that the temperature during the night might be observed. For this purpose he procured a couple of Davy lamps, which answered their object satisfactorily. Accordingly, on October 2, 1865, an ascent was made from Woolwich Arsenal, the time of starting being about three-quarters of an hour after the sun had set. The temperature on the earth was 56 o, and it steadily increased to 59°.6 at the height of 1900 feet. This was established conclusively by repeated ups and downs, the temperature falling as the balloon descended. The view of London lighted up, as seen from the balloon in this ascent, the night being clear, was most wonderful. A second night ascent, was made from the same place on December 2, 1865, and the balloon left the earth 2 x hours after sunset. On this occasion the temperature did not rise, but the decrease, though steady, was small. In an ascent from Windsor on May 29, 1866, the balloon was kept up till half-past eight o'clock, and the temperature was found to decreased as the earth was a approached as Mr. Westcar, of the Royal during the last 900 feet. In this last ascent no paid aeronaut was employed, as Mr. Westcar, of the Royal Horse Guards, undertook the management of the balloon. In the preceding five ascents Mr. Orton, of Blackwall, was employed as aeronaut.
It has been found necessary in the present notice to allude merely to the more striking points noticed in Mr. Glaisher's twenty-eight ascents. The number of observations made by him was of course great, and it is only necessary here to repeat that they are to be found in the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1862-66. It appeared as one of the results of the experiments that the rate of the decline of temperature with elevation near the earth was very different when the sky was clear from what was the case when it was cloudy; and the equality of temperature at sunset and increase with height after sunset were very remarkable facts which were not anticipated, and which have an important bearing on the theory of refraction, as astronomical observations are usually made at night. Even at the height of 5 miles, circus clouds were seen high in the air, apparently as far above as they seem when viewed from the earth, and the air must there be so exceedingly dry that it is hard to believe that their presence can be due to moisture at all. The results of the observations differed very much, and no doubt the atmospheric conditions depended not only on the time of day, but also on the season of the year, and were such that a vast number of ascents would be requisite to determine the true laws with anything approaching to certainty and completeness. It is also clear that England is a most unfit country for the pursuit of such investigations, as, from whatever place the balloon started, it was never safe to be more than an hour above the clouds for fear of reaching the sea. It appeared from the observations that an aneroid barometer could be trusted to read as accurately as a mercurial barometer to the heights reached. The time of vibration of a horizontal magnet was taken in very many of the ascents, and the results of ten different sets of observations proved undoubtedly that the time of vibration was longer than on the earth. In almost all the ascents the balloon was under the influence of currents of air in different directions. The thickness of these currents was found to vary greatly. The direction of the wind on the earth was sometimes that of the whole mass of air up 60 20,000 feet, whilst at other times the direction changed within 500 feet of the earth. Sometimes directly opposite current were met with at different heights in the same ascent and three or four streams of air were encountered moving in different directions. Ignoring the different currents of air which caused the balloon to change its direction, and at times to move in entirely opposite directions, and simply taking into account the places of ascent and descent, the distances so measured were always very much greater than the horizontal movement of the air as measured by anemometers. For example, on January 12, 1862, the balloon left Woolwich at 2h. 8m. P.M. and descended at Lakenheath, 70 miles distant from the place of ascent, at 4h. 19m. P.M. At the Greenwich Observatory, by Robinson's anemometer, during this time the motion of the air was 6 miles only. With regard to physiological observations, Mr. Galisher found that the number of pulsations increased with elevation, as also the number of inspirations. The number of his pulsations was generally 76 per minute before starting, about 90 at 10,000 feet 100 at 20,000 feet, and 110 at higher elevations. But a good deal depended on the temperament of the individual. This was also the case in respect to colour; at 10,000 feet the faces of some would be a glowing purple, whilst others would be scarcely affected; at 4 miles high Mr. Glaisher found the pulsations of his heart distinctly audible, and his breathing was very much affected, so that panting was produced by the very slightest exertion; at 29,000 feet he became insensible. In reference to the propagation of sound, it was at all times found that sounds from the earth were more or less audible according to be amount of moisture in the air. When in clouds at 4 miles high, a railway train was heard; but when clouds were far below, no sound ever reached the ear at this elevation. The discharge of a gun was heard at 10,000 feet. The barking of a dog was heard at the height of 2 miles, while the shouting of a multitude of people was not audible at heights exceeding 4000 feet.
The majority of Mr. Glaisher's experiments were made in the summer, partly because ascents took place at this time of the year, and partly because the weather was more settled. But some special ascents were made in the winter; these were found to be very troublecome and costly, owing to the time that was wasted before a suitable day occurred, and to the boisterous weather, which damaged the balloon. Altogether the number of ascents bore but a small ratio to the number of days spent over them. Sometimes it was necessary to wait at Wolverhampton a whole week after the day fixed for the ascent, owing to the unfavourable state of the weather and the necessity of keeping the light has required for the balloon in a separate gasometer (as the lightest gas is the worst in illuminating power), added to the cost and difficulty. When balloons ascend as public exhibitions from places of entertainment it is very rarely that a height of a mile is reached, a although, in the absence of instruments, it is not unusual for the aeronaut to exaggerate the elevation, as the passengers have no reason for disputing what is told them. This must be borne in mind when physiological or other phenomena are described by voyagers unprovided with instruments. We have noticed the observations made in Mr. Glaisher's ascents at greater length, because they are almost the only ones that have been made in which the height and other matters are determined with certainly. A quantity of air was collected in two large bags at the height of 12,000 feet in the ascent on January 12, 1864, and submitted to Professor Tyndall, but he has never made public the analysis of it.
Ascent of M. Flammarion, 1867-68.
In the years 1867 and 1868 M. Flammarion made eight Ascent of or nine ascents from Paris for scientific purposes. The heights reached were not great, but the general result of the observations was to confirm those made by Mr. Glaisher. See M. Flammarion in Voyages Aeriens, Paris, 1870, or Travels in the Air, London, 1871. Observations were also made in some balloon ascents by M. de Fonvielle, which are noticed in the works just referred to.-
The balloon had not been discovered very long before it received a military status, and soon after the commencement of the French revolutionary war an aeronautic school was founded at Meudon; Guyton de Morveau, the chemist, and Colonel Coutelle being the persons in charge. Four balloons, were constructed for the armies of the north, of the Sambre and Meuse, of the Rhine and Moselle, and of Egypt. In June 1794 Coutelle ascended with the adjutant and general to reconnoiter the hostile army just before the battle of Fleurus, and two reconnaissances were made, each occupying foru hours. It is generally stated that it was to the information so gained that the French victory was due. The balloon corps was in constant requisition during the campaign, but it does not appear that, with the exception of the reconnaissances just mentioned, any great advantages resulted, except in a moral point of view. But even this was of importance, as the enemy were much disconnected at having their movements so completely watched, while the French were correspondingly elated at the superior information it was believed they were gaining. An attempt was made to revive the use of balloons in the African campaign of 1830, but no opportunity occurred in which they could be employed. It is said that in 1849 a reconnoitering balloon was sent up from before Venice, and that the Russians used one at Sebastopol. In the French campaign against Italy in 1859 the French had recourse to the use of balloons, but this time there was not any aerostatic corps, and their management was entrusted to the brothers Godard. Several reconnaissances were made, and one of especial interest the day before the battle of Solferino. No information of much importance seems, however, to been gained thereby. The Fleurus re connaissance was made in a balloon inflated with hydrogen gas, while at Solferino a fire-balloon was employed. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages; the gas-balloon requires several hours for inflation, but then it can remain in the air any length of time; the fire-balloon can be inflated rapidly, but it will not stay in the air more than five or ten minutes unless a furnace is taken up, the use of which is impracticable in even a moderate wind; besides, the fire-balloons must be of very large dimensions, and only one person could, as a rule, ascend at a time, and he would have to be occupied with the fire: the use of fire-balloons also is always attended with some danger. M. Eugene Godard, who was engaged in the management of the balloons in the Italian campaign, wrote to the times, in August 1864, expressing his opinion of the superiority of fire-balloons for war purposes, as they are so easily inflated and are not destroyed or compelled to descend even if pierced by several balls; and this was also, we believe, the opinion of the Austrians who made experiments with war balloons.
In the late American war balloons were a good deal used by the Federals. There was a regular balloons staff attached to M'Clellan's army, with a captain, an assistant, and about 50 non-commissioned officers and privates. The apparatus consisted of two generators, drawn by four horses each; two balloons, drawn by four horses each, and an acid-cart, drawn by two horses. The two balloons used contained about 13,000 and 26,000 feet of gas, and the inflation usually occupied about three hours. (See Captain Beaumont's Account, vol. xii. of the Royal Engineers' Papers.) We are not aware of the value set by the officers in command on the information obtained by this means; but as we believe balloons were employed till the conclusion of the war, it is clear that some importance was attached to their use. In 1862 or 1863 one or two experiments to test the use of balloons in making reconnaissances were made at Alder-shot, but nothing came of them.
When the Montgolfiers first discovered the balloon, its great use in military operations was at once prophesied; but these anticipations have not been realized. On the other hand, however, there can be no doubt that the balloons has never had a fair trial, being viewed coldly by officers enamoured of routine, and when used, being often left unsupplied with suitable appointments. It is probable that a future still remains for the balloon in this direction.
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